Kissing by Candlelight
by Shahar Mystral
Summary: When a snow storm makes it impossible for Ga Eul to meet up with her friends, she resigns herself to spending Christmas Eve by herself. At least until a knock on the door and the arrival of someone special. Written for the Soeulful Christmas Collection: Candlelight.


**Kissing by Candlelight**

"**We interrupt our regular program to bring you this warning from the weather service."**

Ga Eul put down her mascara and reached over to turn up the volume of her radio, as another gust of wind howled past her bedroom window.

"**Meteorologists have ****determined that the snowstorm currently hitting Seoul is expected to turn into a blizzard shortly. People are recommended to stay indoors and stay off the streets as temperatures continue to plummet. We advise you to avoid travelling as many roads are slip****pery, if not dangerously icy."**

The announcer continued to issue warnings and safety tips but Ga Eul was no longer paying attention. Instead she had moved to her bedroom window and was looking out onto the cityscape below.

At least she was trying to.

The snow had already begun to build up on her window sill and the lights of the city were vague flickerings through the flurries that were swirling past her window.

If the weathermen were to be believed, then there was no way that she would be able to get across the city to Ji Hoo's house for the Christmas party that he was throwing. Taxis and busses would not be available now that they had been asked to clear the streets for their own safety and while the trains would still be running, she didn't think that a 5km walk from the subway was a good idea.

She had just resigned herself to phoning Ji Hoo and excusing herself from his bash, when her phone rang.

"Hello?" She said, answering the phone.

"Ga Eul, it's me, Jan Di. Have you left yet?" Her friend asked quickly.

"No. I'm still at home. I was about to..."

"Good, then I caught you in time." Jan Di interrupted. "I've just heard a news report about a blizzard hitting Seoul. Ji Hoo and I agree, and we think it would be safer for you to stay at home."

"What about the party?"

"Don't worry about that. I don't think there is going to be much of a party anyway. Not with this weather. Not many people have arrived and I think most are going to stay at home where it's safer." She paused for a breath. "Will you be alright by yourself?" Jan Di asked concern evident in her voice.

"Of course." Ga Eul replied. What else could she say? No one would be able to make it to her place if she said anything otherwise. Although she wouldn't put it past Jan Di to try. At least her house was warm, the under floor heating belying the freezing temperatures outside.

"I can't believe that this storm had to hit now. Tonight of all nights." Ga Eul heard a distinct thump from Jan Di's side.

"Jan Di! Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Was the sheepish reply. "I just kicked something in frustration. I'm okay. Just annoyed that you are spending Christmas Eve alone, especially after..." She trailed off. "Any way, I'll see you tomorrow. Promise. Merry Christmas."

Ga Eul smiled in spite of herself. "Merry Christmas to you too. Please tell Ji Hoo that I send my best wishes. I'll see you tomorrow."

She sighed as she put her phone down. The beautiful evening outfit that she was wearing was now a waste. Looking out the window once more, wishing for a break in the storm, she frowned and resigned herself to spending Christmas Eve alone.

**Forty Minutes Later**

Dressed in a pair of black leggings and a fluffy white jersey, Ga Eul sat curled up on her couch, staring intently at the flashing lights of her Christmas tree. Dark, but for a few lit candles, the tree shone brightly, a strong counterpoint to Ga Eul's flagging spirits.

This wasn't how she had planned to spend Christmas Eve.

There was something painful about spending this time of year alone.

She sighed deeply before shaking her head, deliberately trying to shake herself out of her melancholy. Wistfully she wished that Yi Jeong was with her. They had been planning to meet at Ji Hoo's party, after Yi Jeong had gone to see his parents about something. What that something was, she had no idea. When she had asked he told her that she would find out later and quickly changed the topic.

Determined to hear his voice, since she wouldn't be able to see him, Ga Eul picked up her phone and dialled Yi Jeong.

She smiled briefly when her phone registered his name as "Oppa" instead of "Sunbae", which his number had previously been saved under. She chuckled at the memory of Yi Jeong wrestling her phone from her so he could see and change his name in her phone book entry. It had been about a month after his return from Sweden and he had claimed that that had been one of the things he missed hearing while he was away.

He had then handed her back her phone to see the change and had asked her to be his girlfriend.

That was just over a year ago and it still brought a smile to her face.

She was still smiling when she brought her phone to her ear. At least she was until the phone call went straight to voicemail.

Annoyed, she flung her phone down on the couch next to her. Feeling ridiculous for over reacting over a voicemail, she reached for her phone, hoping that she hadn't broken it. She was just about to place the phone down on the table when her apartment door bell rang.

She glanced at her apartment window, checking that the storm was still raging. It still looked as though she was viewing the world from the inside of a shaken snow globe. Curious about who would be out in the storm, Ga Eul walked over and peered through the spyhole in her door.

Standing outside, in the swirling snow was Yi Jeong.

She gasped and wrenched open the door. "What are you doing here? Are you out of your mind?" She asked, horrified.

He smiled at her. At least that's what it looked like he was trying to do. Instead he shivered violently, displacing a few flakes of snow from his head. These were quickly replaced as the wind blew past him and into her apartment.

Shivering at the frigid wind, Ga Eul stepped back. "Quick, come inside."

"Give me your coat." She demanded once she had forced the door shut and had turned to him. "You'll warm up quicker without it."

Yi Jeong nodded and removed his coat. His movements were slow and stiff, the biting cold having taken its toll on his body.

Eventually, he had managed to remove his coat and handed it Ga Eul.

Ga Eul grimaced as she hung up Yi Jeong's jacket. The jacket was ice cold and rigid with ice. "How long were you out in the snow for?" She asked, gesturing that he should follow her to the kitchen.

"About twenty minutes." He said, feeling marginally better now that some of the warmth of Ga Eul's apartment had begun to seep into his frozen limbs.

"What!"Ga Eul exclaimed, her hand poised over the kettle. "Why?"

Yi Jeong looked sheepish. "My car got stuck in a snow bank about a block away. I had to walk the rest of the way to get here."

"Didn't you hear the blizzard warning?" Ga Eul asked, pulling out a mug and adding coffee and sugar.

He nodded as he briskly rubbed his hands together, trying desperately to warm them up.

"Then why didn't you just stay with your parents?"

He shook his head. "I had other plans. Besides I had already left them when the weather bureau made the announcement. I knew that you wouldn't have left yet, so I decided to come here instead." He accepted the hot cup of coffee from Ga Eul and took a sip of the hot brew. "Thank you." He said relishing the warmth that had begun to spread through his fingertips. "I feel better already."

"I can't believe that you risked the storm to come here. You could have just waited and come by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow would have been too late." He grinned at her and shivered. "I missed you today."

Ga Eul rolled her eyes at his outrageous flirting. He may have given up many of his Casanova ways when they had started dating, but his charm hadn't been one of them.

"You saw me yesterday."

"It feels like forever."

Ga Eul giggled. "You are ridiculous."

"I can't believe that you said that." He growled.

"Then don't believe it." Ga Eul retorted playfully. She gestured back to her lounge. "Come on. It's warmer through here." She reached for the light switch to turn on the overhead lights.

"Leave it." Yi Jeong said softly. "The candles create a... nice atmosphere. I like it."

"Nice?" Ga Eul repeated. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"My brain is frozen." Yi Jeong justified as he placed the coffee mug on the table and stepped closer to her. "Although if I strain myself, I'm sure I could come up with something more suitable."

"Really?" Ga Eul whispered, taking a small step away from him. She had caught the playful glint in his eye and was actually surprised that she was able to speak.

Yi Jeong smiled and Ga Eul felt her breath catch. "I could say it's... cozy," he took another step towards her, towering over her, "or I could say it is inviting." He reached for her, gently pulling her towards him. "Or I could say that it's rather romantic." His voice was husky and she felt the brush of his breath on her face.

Caught up in the seductive spell that he was effortlessly weaving, Ga Eul raised her hands to his cold chest. She froze as her brain registered the cold beneath her palms.

"Oppa!" She exclaimed pulling back. "You're freezing cold."

"Well, I was outside, in the snow." He said nonplussed, reaching for her again. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll warm up in no time. Especially if you help."

Ga Eul ducked out under his arms. "I can't believe that you are still wearing those freezing clothes. You should have done something about it."

He dragged a hand over his face in frustration before turning to her. "Like what? Get undressed? It's not like I have another set of clothes to get changed into. Would you like me to walk around naked?"

"Oh." Ga Eul's face was bright red. She turned away, to hide her blush and her gaze fell on her flashing Christmas tree. "Oh, yes." She muttered to herself. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."

Yi Jeong's eyes widened in shock. Did she actually want to walk around in the nude?

"What did you just say?" He asked, convinced that he must have misheard her.

Instead of replying, Ga Eul ignored him and headed to the Christmas tree. She rummaged through the presents scattered under the tree for a moment. When she stood, she held a gift in her arms.

"I was going to give this to you tomorrow, but, "she shrugged, "seems more appropriate now."

Utterly confused by her actions, Yi Jeong accepted the gift. It was soft and light in his arms. "What's this?"

Ga Eul gave him a level stare. "Just open it."

Shooting her one last look, Yi Jeong quickly opened the gift to reveal a deep red cashmere jersey. Immediately he understood why Ga Eul had given him the gift now. "Thank you. It's beautiful."

"I don't have any pants for you though." She said frowning.

He smiled. "Don't worry about that. My pants are drying quickly. Just let me go take off this shirt and put on the jersey. It's not quite how I was hoping to warm up, but I expect it will have to do. For now." He added meaningfully.

Once again, Ga Eul blushed, annoyed and enthralled by his single-mindedness.

Yi Jeong returned a few minutes later, dressed in the jersey and feeling infinitely warmer.

"Feeling better now?" Ga Eul asked from her seat on the couch, where she had curled up to await his return.

He shrugged. "You could say that." A smile touched his face as he flopped down onto the couch next to her. He put his arms around her shoulders and drew her close to him.

"Hey, I was comfy like that." She complained as she shifted to get comfortable again.

He tapped her nose softly before tucking her head against his shoulder. "I'm only trying to get comfy too. Besides I need you to warm me up." He grinned down at her. "You won't let your boyfriend who faced a blizzard to see you, suffer would you?"

"Um, no." Ga Eul said grudgingly. Although she secretly didn't mind being this close to Yi Jeong. She just didn't want him to think that he had it too easy. She snuggled closer to him, loving the feel of cashmere on her check.

"Ga Eul." He murmured.

"Hmmm."

"I wanted to ask you something. When I was getting changed, I noticed something odd in your room."

Ga Eul immediately made a move to sit up. Silently, she prayed that she hadn't left any underwear out. Casting her mind back, she was pretty sure that she had put everything away, but Yi Jeong had an artist's eye so if she hadn't, he was bound to notice it.

"What did you notice?" She squeaked.

He gave her a concerned look before grinning broadly. "Was that panic I heard in your voice?"

She shook her head almost too quickly.

"Are you sure?" He teased. "Worried that you had left your underwear out for me to see?"

"Of course not!" Ga Eul spluttered. "Were you poking through my things?"

Now it was Yi Jeong's turn to look defensive. "No! I have more sense than that." He pretended to shudder. "Do I look like I have a death wish? What idiot goes through his girlfriend's things and then tells her about it?"

"Oh." Ga Eul narrowed her eyes. "So what you're saying is that you would go through my things, but you just wouldn't tell me about it?"

"No, I..." He began, before pausing to look at her shrewdly. "Stop trying to change the subject. If you had just listened to what I wanted to ask, then you wouldn't have panicked." Then quickly, before she could interrupt him again, he said, "The vase that I made for you last year, why are you using it to store your pens and pencils in it? Not to sound full of myself or anything, but you do realise that it's worth a small fortune right? "

Ga Eul relaxed against him, sighing in relief. "Oh that. Yes, of course I know that it's worth a lot of money, but I use it as a reminder."

"A reminder?" He prodded when she failed to continue.

"It's a reminder of two of the most important things in my life." She turned her head slightly to look up at his face, gauging his reaction. "You, of course, and my students." She smiled at the confusion that she saw on his face. "Everytime I reach for one of my pens to mark with or one of my pencils to edit, I think of you."

"You need to be reminded that I am in your life?" He sounded upset.

"It's not like that. I just want to remind myself how lucky I am to have found and loved you."

Yi Jeong swallowed hard and pulled her into a tight embrace. His lips sought hers. He poured the depth of his feelings into the kiss, trying to show her just how much she meant to him.

When they pulled apart, both had a slight dazed look in their eyes. Yi Jeong smiled as he took in her soft pink lips, which were swollen from his kisses.

As much as he longed to kiss her again, he had more pressing matters that needed to be spoken about.

Sighing, he brushed a strand of hair back from her face and said, "I spoke to my parents today."

"I know." Ga Eul said softly, surprised by the seriousness in his voice.

He grimaced. "Although it wasn't much of a discussion in the beginning." He trailed off, wondering how best to explain what had happened in the So manor.

"If you don't want to tell me, I understand." Ga Eul said, fully aware of just how much Yi Jeong struggled with his family.

"No. I want to tell you. I wouldn't have brought it up in I if didn't want to tell you about it." He hesitated. "I just don't know where to start."

"The beginning is usually a good place to start."

He smiled wryly. "Well the beginning is quite a while ago but I guess it works." He shrugged. "Well, as you know my family is quite wealthy - "

"No really?" Ga Eul gasped sarcastically. "I never would have guessed."

This time it was Yi Jeong's turn to roll his eyes. "Anyway before I was rudely interrupted," he squeezed her gently to let her know he was joking, "my family is wealthy partly because of some smart investments over the years but the bulk of our wealth came from smart marriages. In the beginning, this included marriages to women with large dowries or with strong political connections. Now days these marriages are done to link wealthy families and successful businesses together."

He glanced down at Ga Eul. "You know all about the tensions in my parent's marriage, but I've never really explained what caused it, have I?"

Ga Eul reached for Yi Jeong's hand and squeezed it gently, aware that he was struggling.

"Their marriage was an arranged one, in order to benefit both their families. My mother believed that it was a love match, but my father resented his family for "selling him off to the highest bidder" as he put it. He never forgave his family, or my mother for forcing him to marry." He swallowed hard. "And despite knowing this they wanted to do the same thing to me."

Ga Eul felt her heart constrict and a lump formed in her throat. "Is that why you went to speak to them today?"

He nodded.

Panic and fear, unlike anything she had ever felt before threatened to overwhelm her. Her mind reeled as she tried to imagine living without Yi Jeong in her life - of knowing that he was married to another woman, when she loved him. The unfairness of it all made her want to cry. She had been through hell and back for him and now someone who didn't even know him, let alone care about him would marry him just because of their family's wealth.

"Have they found someone they want you to marry?" She choked out.

"They hadn't." Yi Jeong replied. "Are you okay?" He asked, suddenly picking up on the tension that was radiating through her.

"They can't do this to you!" She blurted out, her eyes misting over. "Can't your parents see that they're just passing on their misery onto you? It's not right!" She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "What about us?" She whispered. "Where does that leave us if two years from now, your parents decide that you need to be married off?"

"That's not going to happen." Yi Jeong said firmly.

Ga Eul shook her head. "You say that now, but they're your parents. You have to honour your parents and obey them."

"No, Ga Eul. It won't be like that." He took her head in his hands, forcing her to look at him. His thumb brushed against her cheek, wiping away the tears that had escaped. "The reason I went to my parents today was to tell them that I wasn't going to make the same mistake they did. I told them that if they were going to try to force me to marry, I would do what my older brother did and disown the family. Family fortune be damned. I don't want to have my life dictated to me. I don't want to live like they did - hurting everyone around me."

"What did they say to that?" Ga Eul asked tentatively.

He chuckled, still in awe of his family's answer. "They said they understood and that it was time that the So family started letting go of traditions that were good for the family name but not for the family itself."

Ga Eul let out a shriek of joy and all but lept into Yi Jeong's arms. "Oh, I am so happy for you!"

Yi Jeong's arms had only just wrapped around her, when she pulled back. "You dog!" She said, hitting him on the arm. "I can't believe that you let me think that your parents had arranged a marriage for you or that they were planning to!"

"I didn't mean to." He said, catching both of her hands in his. "I didn't realise that you had such an overactive imagination. Otherwise, I just would have started with this."

Holding both her hands in one of his, he reached into his pocket. Carefully he extracted a small black box. Popping it open with his thumb, he turned the box so she could see the ring nestled in the velvet.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at him, the question evident in her eyes.

He nodded.

"Ga Eul, when we first met you were just one of Jan Di's friends, but that changed. You changed me. You healed something that was broken in my heart. You helped me realise what true love is and that fate hadn't taken my soulmate away from me. You waited four long years for me and I can't tell you how happy I was that you did. You gave me the courage to face my darkest fears and face my family. You mean the world to me. Chu Ga Eul, I love you and I want you in my life from now until forever. Will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

For a second time that evening, Ga Eul threw herself into Yi Jeong's arms. "Of course." She said, the instant before her lips met his.

Ga Eul was the first one to pull back, overwhelmed by his kiss and the strange feeling that everything was surreal. "I'm not dreaming, am I?" She murmured staring at him.

Yi Jeong shook his head, grinning broadly. "This had better not be a dream." Holding Ga Eul against him, he slipped the ring from the box and onto her finger. "Now you'll have something other than a pot of pens and pencils to remind you just how much _I _love you." He murmured.

Ga Eul stared at the gorgeous ring on her finger for a long moment. The flickering candlelight seemed to increase it's sparkle. "I never would have expected my evening to end like this." She said softly. "When Jan Di phoned, I -" She paused. "Wait, I think Jan Di knew."

"Knew what?" Yi Jeong asked, pressing kisses along her jaw line.

"That you were going to propose."

Yi Jeong froze.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Ga Eul said, her eyes narrowing.

Yi Jeong frowned and rested his forehead on hers. "Yes." He muttered. He pulled back to look at her seriously. "But only because I was worried that she would try to stop you from saying yes. I had to make sure that she knew just how much I loved you so she wouldn't try get in the way like she did when we had that pretend date years ago." He smiled. "I actually asked Ji Hoo to set up a place, away from everyone else, where I could propose to you this evening, but I think this turned out even better."

He trailed kisses down to her lips. "Thanks to this storm, I have you all to myself." He murmured just before he captured her lips with his.

The candles and Christmas tree continued to flicker in the darkness as the two soulmates relished in their love for each other.

* * *

**Happy Holidays.**


End file.
